30 Best Border Plants for Pretty Garden Paths and Beds in 2026

Hardy Geraniums

skymoon13//Getty Images

Hardy geraniums (also known as cranesbill) add instant charm to any border thanks to their purple, pink, and white flowers—yet there is nothing dainty about these tough-as-nails perennials. Unlike the geraniums that fill your containers, this variety forms dense mounds that spread quickly to suppress the weeds and form a soft edge that lasts until the first frost. Hardy geraniums also require minimal upkeep (light pruning after their first major bloom), are deer- and rabbit-resistant, and attract bees.

Shop Hardy Geranium Plants

Rosemary

Yuliya Taba//Getty Images

Rosemary not only makes a valuable addition to your herb garden but is also a fragrant edging plant in sunny areas of your garden. The dense, needle-like foliage of upright varieties like Arp and Tuscan Blue can be trimmed to create a more formal hedge, whereas creeping types like Prostratus and Santa Barbara work nicely as ground cover near pathways. Be ready to trim and harvest your rosemary regularly, though, as it can grow quickly and lose its shape.

Shop Rosemary Seeds

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Marigold

aire images//Getty Images

Add a burst of unapologetic color to your vegetable garden or walkways with these beloved flowering annuals. Look specifically for compact varieties like French marigolds as they have a neat, low-growing habit and bloom well into the fall months. Marigolds also naturally repel pests like aphids, hornworms, and squash bugs, making them wonderful companions to tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons.

Shop Marigold Seeds

Thrift

Federica Grassi//Getty Images

This perennial’s petite pink pom-pom flowers bring cheer to borders from late spring to early summer. Even when not in bloom, its grassy foliage is attractive near the front of a bed. Drought-tolerant thrift thrives in full sun and is hardy in Zones 3–9.

Shop Sea Thrift Seeds

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Lamb’s Ears

By Eve Livesey//Getty Images

With its fuzzy silver foliage, lamb’s ear is a stunning textural addition to a garden border or bed. Color-wise, it pairs particularly well with purple flowering plants. It’s a tough perennial herb that tends to spread in most types of soil to form dense ground cover. Pro tip: If used as an edger, you’ll need to keep it in line.

Shop Lamb’s Ears Plants

Impatiens

Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo//Getty Images

If you don’t like to wait around for blooms, then you need to plant impatiens. Their vibrant purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, or white flowers appear almost as soon as you plant them along a path. One of the easiest annuals to grow, impatiens blossom pretty much nonstop and can endure the heat with consistent watering.

Shop Impatiens Seeds

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Catmint

YOSHIHARU NUGA/a.collectionRF//Getty Images

Use catmint to soften a border’s edge and provide contrast to spiky plants like irises and yuccas. If you cut the foliage back after this perennial blooms, then you can enjoy two to three flushes of its purple-and-blue blooms each season.

Shop Catmint Plants

Dahlia

Jena Ardell//Getty Images

With all the sizes, shapes, textures, and colors of dahlias, it might be hard to pick just one to accent your border garden. Go for a mix of bulbs for multiple styles of blooms. Dahlias behave like perennials in warmer regions but annuals in cooler climates. In Zones 1–7, overwinter by carefully digging up the tubers in the fall and storing them in a cool, dark place in slightly damp peat moss or sawdust.

Shop Dahlia Bulbs

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Irish Moss

Getty Images

This herbaceous perennial happens to be one of the most versatile gems in the garden, as it can fill in between pavers or serve as a verdant border of a rock garden. Little white flowers pop up throughout the growing season when planted in full light.

Shop Irish Moss Plants

Dianthus

Mint Images//Getty Images

Smaller varieties of this showy flowering herb work well as edging plants, providing a pretty pop of color and a pleasant clove-like fragrance. Regular deadheading keeps the blooms coming, as well as the butterflies and hummingbirds that feed on their nectar.

Shop Dianthus Plants

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Lavender

Charles Mayer

With bursts of color and a low path-lining height, lavender is a popular edging choice. Here, a mass of lavender plants creates a bold flowering border on the property of a Long Island, New York, estate (designed by Hollander Design Landscape Architects, with Haynes-Roberts Inc.).

Shop Lavender Seeds

Daylily

bauhaus1000//Getty Images

Though its fiery bell-shaped flowers are short-lived, the daylily’s gorgeous green foliage makes it a solid edging plant choice for spring through fall. Plant lots of varieties for a long-term display of color.

Shop Daylily Bulbs

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Fern

Getty Images

Lush green ferns along shaded driveways and woodland paths or in dappled light—is there anything more magical? Because ferns prefer moist soil, they thrive as shady border plants alongside streams or ponds.

Shop Fern Plants

Astilbe

LordRunar//Getty Images

For long-lasting color, add this perennial in a partially shaded border. Depending on the variety, astilbe boasts plumelike flowers of white, pink, or red from mid-spring to late summer. Its fernlike bronze and green foliage provides a nice textural contrast to plants with large, broad leaves like heucheras and hostas.

Shop Astilbe Plants

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Lady’s Mantle

PatrikStedrak

The low-maintenance, drought-tolerant flowering lady’s mantle provides lovely ground cover near walkways or under trees. The plant’s gentle edges make it a perfect choice for borders in need of softening.

Shop Lady’s Mantle Plants

Coral Bells

Melissa Ross//Getty Images

Coral bells’ feathery spikes of tiny pendant flowers in spring and summer aren’t the main attraction for most gardeners. But its vibrant, saturated foliage is perfect for playing up the colors of other border plants. For example, a variety with dark purple leaves makes yellow flowers glow; caramel-colored leaves bring out the tones of green leaves.

Shop Coral Bells Plants

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Creeping Thyme

Getty Images

This ornamental herb, which boasts pretty purple flowers, makes for a fragrant ground cover ideal for lining steps or between pavers on patios or terraces. When crushed, the flowers emit a fresh herbal scent. Plant this deer-resistant ground cover in full sun to partial shade.

Shop Creeping Thyme Seeds

Hosta

Neil Landino

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Sedum

Grace Cary//Getty Images

The vertical clusters of upright sedum varieties are ideal for adding fall flair along the front of sun-drenched borders. Also known as stonecrop, this perennial holds up well in heat and drought and attracts butterflies and other pollinators to your garden.

Shop Sedum Roots

Liriope

Getty Images

In its early stages of life, liriope tends to look like any old type of tall grass, but this herbaceous perennial blooms with striking lavender-colored flowers in the heat of late summer and early fall. The sturdy foliage stands tall as an edging plant and helps prevent erosion.

Shop Liriope Plants

Kathleen Penton is the copy/research editor at VERANDA, where she ensures that all content throughout the magazine adheres to appropriate style, grammar, spelling, and factual standards. Each month she also writes digital stories, covering topics such as shopping, travel, gardens, and decorating. Before joining VERANDA in 2022, Kathleen earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis in magazine, newspaper, and online journalism from the University of Alabama. She has worked as an editor and writer for the past 20 years, remaining passionate about a career that allows her to learn something new every day. She believes a copy editor should know a lot about one thing (her thing is extraordinary design) and where to find everything else.

Amy Mitchell is the managing editor for VERANDA and Country Living, where she writes articles on a variety of topics—decorating and design, gardens, and holidays. Amy’s experience in the shelter magazine category spans more than 20 years, as she’s previously held positions at Coastal Living and Cottage Living. Her personal pursuits include cooking, gardening, and hunting her favorite tag sale spots for the next piece of Pyrex for her prized collection.

Watch Next

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

Readers Also Read

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below